The 10 Worst Family Movies in Film History
Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel.
A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated.
Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point.
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Though quite a few of the greatest movies in history are family films, studios can sometimes get away with making a movie that's less-than-exceptional with the excuse that it's primarily aimed at kids. There are limits, however; and ten particular times in history, filmmakers from around the world have crossed these limits in ways that are a complete affront to families around the world.
From international rip-offs of better, more successful family classics, such as Nukie; to (understandably) forgotten animated disasters like Marmaduke, the worst family movies in film history are proof of why even families deserve masterpieces that are as iconic and high-quality as the best family flicks in history. Cinema can be absolutely foundational in children's apprecitation of art as they grow up, and foundational these ten disasterpieces most definitely are not.
10 'Nukie' (1987)
Inevitably, every time a movie breaks the box office the way Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial did back in 1982 (surpassing Star Wars as the highest-grossing film ever at the time), copycats come along. Many awful movies tried to be the next E.T., but none failed more spectacularly than the South African film Nukie.
Directed by Sias Odendaal and Michael Pakleppa, this infamous knock-off isn't bad only because it's so unlike E.T. in terms of charm, quality, or visual wonder, but simply because it's a terrible film all-around. The creature is absolutely hideous, the plot is paper-thin yet somehow also incomprehensibly incoherent, and the film overall does the worst thing a family movie can possibly do: It's unbearably boring from beginning to end.
9 'The Legend of the Titanic' (1999)
Considering that the sinking of the RMS Titanic is an actual real-life tragedy that claimed thousands of lives, it's astonishingly insensitive just how many cheap knock-off films came out following the release of James Cameron's Titanic. One such film was the atrocious international co-production The Legend of the Titanic, an animated mess that should have never seen the light of day.
It's one of the worst movies that are terrible throughout, a retelling of the Titanic's sinking that incorporates bizarre elements of fantasy and changes the ending so that no one actually dies. Tactless, visually abysmal, and completely nonsensical, it's filled to the brim with such creatively and thematically incoherent elements that it's hard to imagine how any family could possibly endure its 84 minutes of runtime.
8 'The Emoji Movie' (2017)
One of the most notoriously terrible family films of the last decade is The Emoji Movie, a movie inspired by Toy Story that ended up having none of the cultural impact, none of the fans, and none of the commercial success. The idea of making an entire feature film about emojis visiting the real world was already silly enough on paper, but the execution of the concept in The Emoji Movie makes it seem even dumber.
The result is one of the worst animated movies in film history, a completely humorless attempt at a family comedy that has absolutely nothing of value to offer. The writing is atrocious, the voice acting is terrible despite being so star-studded, and not even the animation is decent enough to make the movie bearable. In the end, Emoji Movie feels like nothing more than a corporatized ad to sell phones to children who are likely definitely not old enough to own one.
7 'Finding Jesus' (2020)
Religion-based movies for families can absolutely work, but not when they're cheap mockbusters meant to trick unsuspecting parents and kids into watching a movie that they're made to think is actually the product of a far higher quality. That's the kind of movie that Finding Jesus is, a low-budget cash-grab where absolutely everything that can possibly go wrong with a Christian movie does go horribly wrong.
It's far and away one of the worst family movies of the last five years, "held together" by its uncannily awful animation, its laughably amateurish voice acting, and its entirely non-existent plot. There truly isn't even a semblance of an attempt at telling a story here; rather, Finding Jesus is a visually abhorrent, aurally repellent, zero-effort hour of a cheap sermon.
6 'Marmaduke' (2022)
Marmaduke is one of the most embarrassing cinematic "efforts" Netflix has ever distributed, an adaptation of Paul and Brand Andreson's comic strip of the same name which has none of the charm that made the original character iconic. Indeed, animation fans who have at some point subjected themselves to the torture that is watching Marmaduke tend to agree that it's one of the worst animated movies of all time.
Its 0% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes would be an almost admirable feat if being unapologetically awful and cash-grabby were worthy of admiration. Don't let its respectable voice cast fool you: Marmaduke isn't just completely effortless, but actually offensively bad. The animation is nightmarishly ugly, the gross-out humor is repulsive, and even the voice performances are bafflingly bad.
Collider Exclusive · The Sorting Hat Awaits Which Hogwarts House Are You? Gryffindor · Slytherin · Hufflepuff · Ravenclaw
Four houses. One destiny. The Sorting Hat has considered thousands of students — now it's your turn. Answer honestly and discover where you truly belong at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
🦁Gryffindor
🐍Slytherin
🦡Hufflepuff
🦅Ravenclaw
01
What quality do you value most in yourself? Answer as honestly as you can — the Hat always knows.
02
A friend is being treated unfairly. What do you do? How you protect others says everything about who you are.
03
What does success look like to you? What you're working toward defines who you're becoming.
04
What is your greatest fear? Fear is the most honest thing about a person.
05
The rules say no. Your gut says go. What do you do? Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice.
06
What kind of friend are you? Who you are to the people you love is who you really are.
07
You look into the Mirror of Erised. What do you see? The mirror shows the deepest desire of your heart.
08
The Sorting Hat pauses. It whispers: "You could do well in any house. But what matters most to you — truly?" This is your tiebreaker. The Hat always listens.
The Sorting Hat Speaks Your House Has Been Chosen
After careful deliberation, the Sorting Hat has made its decision. This is the house your values, your instincts, and your particular way of being in the world were made for.
🦁 Gryffindor
You have nerve. Not the reckless kind, but the deep, quiet courage that shows up even when you're terrified — especially then.
- Gryffindors don't act because they're fearless — they act because they understand that some things are worth being afraid for.
- You stand up for people when it would be easier to look away.
- You charge toward what's right even when the odds are terrible.
- Harry, Hermione, Ron — the heroes of Hogwarts's greatest chapter — all called the tower with the scarlet and gold home. And now, so do you.
🐍 Slytherin
You are driven, sharp, and utterly clear-eyed about what you want and how to get there.
- Slytherin has long been misunderstood — painted as the house of villains when it is, at its best, the house of those who refuse to accept limits placed on them by others.
- You are resourceful, strategic, and you play the long game.
- You know your worth. You protect your own fiercely.
- The dungeon common room with its view of the Black Lake is yours — and the ambitions that will take you further than anyone expects are yours too.
🦡 Hufflepuff
You are the kind of person that makes the world genuinely better just by being in it.
- Hufflepuff is not the "safe" house or the "leftover" house — it is the house of those with the greatest heart and the most unwavering integrity.
- You show up. You work hard. You don't need glory or recognition — you do what's right because it's right.
- Your loyalty never wavers, even when tested.
- Nymphadora Tonks, Cedric Diggory, Newt Scamander — some of the wizarding world's finest. And now you join them.
🦅 Ravenclaw
Your mind is your greatest gift, and you've always known it.
- Ravenclaws are the thinkers, the questioners, the ones who find a puzzle irresistible and a good book better company than most people.
- Ravenclaw is not merely about intelligence — it's about the love of learning, the pursuit of truth, and the rare courage to admit you don't know something yet.
- You see the world with unusual clarity and depth.
- Luna Lovegood, Filius Flitwick, Rowena Ravenclaw herself — all extraordinary, all original. And so are you.
5 'Artemis Fowl' (2020)
Irish author Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl book series is one of the best YA fantasy novel series of the 21st century, which makes it all the more embarrassing just how awful the Disney+ movie adaptation directed by Kenneth Branagh is. Widely considered by all those who've been unfortunate enough to watch it as one of the worst book-to-movie adaptations of all time, it's a complete insult not just to the source material, but to family filmmaking as a whole.
The film languished in development hell for almost two decades—and considering how it turned out, it should have stayed right there.
Intentionally devised as a movie franchise at Miramax back in 2001, the film languished in development hell for almost two decades—and considering how it turned out, it should have stayed right there. On the one hand, the film seems to absolutely despise the source material, which it makes changes to that fans of the books found baffling. Add to that a number of atrocious performances, incomprehensible writing, horrible production values, and some of the most annoying narration ever heard in a family flick, and you get one of the worst movies of the 2020s so far.
4 'Home Alone 4' (2002)
Chris Columbus' Home Alone is not only one of the greatest Christmas classics in movie history, but also genuinely one of the best family movies of the 1990s. Its first sequel was just as great, while its threequel was an absolute disaster. Home Alone 4, however, was on a whole other level. This made-for-television disaster is really just a Home Alone film in name and premise only, seeing as it's one of the most transcendentally awful movies the 2000s ever saw.
It's truly dismal bottom-of-the-barrel stuff; depressively corporate, completely unfestive, and entirely lacking in any sort of Christmas charm. The low TV budget makes it so Kevin's traps are absolutely pathetic, Kevin himself comes across more as an annoying brat than a clever kid, and the whole thing just feels so cheap that it's genuinely hard to watch.
3 'Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2' (2004)
Though Bob Clark's Baby Geniuses was almost universally panned by critics back in 1999, it was a total sleeper hit financially, encouraging the producers to come up with a sequel trying to replicate that same low-budget profitability. Not only was Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 a total box office bomb, it ended up being one of the most notoriously awful feature films the big screen has ever been assaulted with.
One of the worst movies of the last 40 years, Superbabies is bad in virtually every way a family movie can possibly be bad. Way too crude and juvenile in its humor for it to be truly kid-friendly, but also too stupid and unfunny in every sense imaginable for any adult in their right mind to find it appealing, this may very well be the single worst movie sequel the world has ever seen.
2 'Son of the Mask' (2005)
Based on John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke's comic book series, 1994's The Mask is one of the most iconic and beloved Jim Carrey comedy movies of all time. It was so successful that even after Carrey declined the opportunity to show up in a sequel, the studio still moved forward with it. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Over two decades after its release, Son of the Mask is still widely seen as one of the worst films of all time.
It's not that Carrey was the only comedian on the planet who could have made the manic, over-the-top energy of the franchise work, but Son of the Mask doesn't even try to replicate that kind of charm. It's a film that confuses "louder and more aggressive" for "funnier," one of the movie sequels with the most terrible writing the world has ever been subjected to.
1 'Foodfight!' (2012)
When talking about the worst family movies in history, there's really no competition for #1. That throne has, since 2012, been entirely dedicated to a single film that will likely never have to share its crown: Foodfight!, a film so aggressively and unapologetically atrocious that it can't even be considered a so-bad-it's-good classic—though it's definitely the sort of movie that must be seen to be believed.
The animation? It's such an affront to the human eye that it should be considered assault. The voice acting? Surprisingly embarrassing, considering the presence of stars of the stature of Charlie Sheen and Eva Longoria. The writing? So completely nonsensical that one has to wonder if it was written by an alien. The product placement? Some of the most shameless in the history of cinema. All in all, Foodfight! may technically be a family movie, but no responsible parent would subject the sanctity of their home to this atrocity.
Foodfight!
- Release Date
- June 15, 2012
- Runtime
- 91 minutes
- Director
- Lawrence Kasanoff
- Writers
- Brent V. Friedman, Rebecca Swanson
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